The Harley-Davidson bar and shield is the trademarked logo of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company. American Motorcycle Classifieds - HD4SALE.COM we are not affiliated with the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company except that I own a Harley and have the HD logo tattooed on my shoulder. I help people buy and sell used Harley Davidsons the greatest motorcycle ever made .

The Harley Davidson Motorcycle model names shown in the content of this web site are all the ®registered trademarks of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are only used on this web site by the buyers and sellers as a reference source only..

X - Sportsters. These descend from the K series, 1952-56 XL- Series started in 1957. They are "unit construction" (engine & transmission share a common case) L - High compression (7.5:1 in 1957) H - Starting in 1958 came the XLH, meaning Higher-power or High-compression (9:1) or Hot . C - Also in 1958 was the XLCH. The C was intended to mean "Competition". CR- Cafe racer style, with bikini fairing. LT- Touring, with bigger tank, thicker seat, and hard bags.

The first letter of the model designator reveals the engine series: G - Servicar three wheeler, 1932 to 1972 E - Overhead valve 61 cubic inch "big twin" (Engine/trans separated) F - Overhead valve 74,80 or 88 cubic inch "big twin" FL - 80 to 88 cubic inches and a fat front tire. K - Side valve 45 and 55 cubic inch sports bike that replaced the WL in 1953 and was replaced by the Sportster in 1957.
It had many design features that were carried over to the Sportster.

The second letter of the model designator reveals the Front end (except sportsters) X - Narrow tire and sport forks. L - Wide front tire and Hydra-Glide front forks. (FX originally meant "Factory Expirimantal" The first one was the Super Glide FX)